Business Secretary Greg Clark has launched the Government’s ambitious Industrial Strategy, setting out a long-term vision for how Britain can build on its economic strengths, address productivity performance, embrace technological change and boost the earning power of people right across the UK.

With the overriding aim of making the UK “the world’s most innovative nation” by 2030, the Government has committed to investing a further £725 million over the next three years in the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to respond to some of the greatest global challenges and opportunities faced by the UK. This will include £170 million designed to “transform” the construction sector.

The White Paper launched on Monday 27 November also confirms that the Government will be pressing ahead on a series of Sector Deals, with construction, life sciences, automotive and Artificial Intelligence (AI) the first to benefit from these new strategic and long-term partnerships with Government, all backed by private sector co-investment.

Greg Clark: Business and Energy Secretary

As part of its all-new Industrial Strategy, the Government has identified four Grand Challenges, one of which is to put the UK at the forefront of the AI and data revolution. This represents an open invitation to business, academia and civil society alike to work and engage with the Government in order to innovate, develop new technologies and ensure that the UK seizes these global opportunities.

Stephen Martin, director general at the Institute of Directors, observed: “The Industrial Strategy identifies the key challenges that the UK economy will need to overcome if businesses are to remain competitive in an increasingly global race. It also takes some important steps in starting the flow of public investment to overcome these hurdles. We hope that it will become the cornerstone of a long-term vision of post-Brexit Britain, and one that promotes innovation and the free flow of ideas. It’s particularly welcome to see how the Government has acknowledged the calls from industry to take a more broad-based approach to addressing questions around skills, infrastructure and research in order to support our future economy. We hope this will continue as these plans are taken forward.”

Laying the foundations

(ISC)² is the largest membership body of information security professionals in the world. Dr Adrian Davis, European managing director at the organisation, has made comment on the Government’s new Industrial Strategy, in turn expressing concern over certain aspects contained within.

“We welcome the Government’s investment in a future Artificial Intelligence industry led by the Alan Turing Institute,” stated Davis. “Along with the investment in infrastructure also announced, this represents a positive move towards creating a digital economy and the skills, knowledge and experience needed to succeed in the connected world. However, even though cyber security is mentioned as one of the key priorities in AI, we’re concerned that cyber security doesn’t appear in other parts of this Industrial Strategy.”

Davis previously held the position of principal research analyst at the Information Security Forum of PwC and currently works on cyber security projects with leaders at organisations including Microsoft, Rothschild, Credit Suisse and Royal Mail.

Dr Adrian Davis

As far as Davis is concerned, without security being designed-in from the start, AI, Smart and Internet of Things systems will be vulnerable to bias, bad data and sabotage, with “the Industrial Strategy for a digital economy building the roof before we have laid the foundations.”

Davis continued: “Imagine a smart city that could be hacked, just like in the movie The Italian Job, where the robbers reprogrammed Turin’s traffic lights in order to create a traffic jam, and the chaos that could ensue if self-driving cars, traffic lights and transport systems all stopped working.”

Embellishing this theme, Davis observed: “Now that the Government wants to use AI for everything from healthcare through to recruitment, we urgently need a programme of validation such that any AI technology has been through a rigorous assessment process that eliminates bias, bad data and sub-standard, insecure programming.”

Skills, training and education

For Davis, the Government’s focus on skills, training and education is to be welcomed. “Although it’s not specifically mentioned in the skills for the digital age, we hope that cyber security will be an integral part of the opportunities offered to individuals and educators. The upskilling of computer science teachers is mentioned again. The hope is that other parts of this Industrial Strategy are not just re-announcements of current initiatives.”

In conclusion, Davis informed Risk UK: “If we begin this Industrial Strategy by requiring that security is designed and built-in from the start, it would have benefits for the UK’s economy greater than those already promised. We could become a world leader in the sphere of data security. The Government promises that we will “lead the world in the safe and ethical use of data and AI” but, in order for that vision to be realised, we absolutely need to make sure that we’re not sacrificing security on the altar of innovation.”

About the Author

Brian Sims BA (Hons) Hon FSyI, Editor, Risk UK (Pro-Activ Publications)
Beginning his career in professional journalism at The Builder Group in March 1992, Brian was appointed Editor of Security Management Today in November 2000 having spent eight years in engineering journalism across two titles: Building Services Journal and Light & Lighting.
In 2005, Brian received the BSIA Chairman’s Award for Promoting The Security Industry and, a year later, the Skills for Security Special Award for an Outstanding Contribution to the Security Business Sector.
In 2008, Brian was The Security Institute’s nomination for the Association of Security Consultants’ highly prestigious Imbert Prize and, in 2013, was a nominated finalist for the Institute's George van Schalkwyk Award.
An Honorary Fellow of The Security Institute, Brian serves as a Judge for the BSIA’s Security Personnel of the Year Awards and the Securitas Good Customer Award.
Between 2008 and 2014, Brian pioneered the use of digital media across the security sector, including webinars and Audio Shows. Brian’s actively involved in 50-plus security groups on LinkedIn and hosts the popular Risk UK Twitter site.
Brian is a frequent speaker on the conference circuit. He has organised and chaired conference programmes for both IFSEC International and ASIS International and has been published in the national media.
Brian was appointed Editor of Risk UK at Pro-Activ Publications in July 2014.

Contact Sales:

Archive Search

All rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Content on this website, including materials available for download, are supplied solely for the private use of visitors to this site, and must not be redistributed by third party sites, or as part of any marketing or promotional material, without permission in writing from the publisher.While every care has been taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of material included in Risk UK (both the hardcopy publications and this website), the publishers cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the information contained herein, or any consequence arising from it.